Box Right

We want to correct the record on an error we made on our last post on Representative Max Tyler. We reported that he was photographed in the squatter's camp after Governor Hickenlooper's 11 pm curfew based on The Denver Post's published photograph that had an 11:38 timestamp, which we published proof of here.

The photographer who took the photo of Max Tyler contacted us to say the photo was taken at 8:09 pm and sent us a screenshot of the original timestamp. It appears when the photo was edited the original timestamp was altered. We regret the error.

While it is still news that Max Tyler was down in solidarity with the Occupy Denver squatters at Veteran's Park, we need to note that it was BEFORE the 11 pm curfew.

Max Tyler loves him some squatters, but apparently will only stand with them during the time allowed by Governor Hickenlooper.

CORRECTION:The Denver Post informs us that the time stamp displayed on the picture is wrong, and that the picture of Mad Max wallowing with the squatters was actually take before the 11 PM curfew. As we said at the end of the post, it was either a wrong time stamp or Mad Max had some explaining to do. And no, we don’t plan on asking Mad Max if he has an alibi.

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In a clear sign of the rapidly diminishing political capital of Democrat Governor John Hickenlooper, a Democrat state Representative was caught on camera by The Denver Post openly flouting Hickenlooper's command to leave the Occupy Denver squatter camp at 11 pm. In this photo posted by The Denver Post, state Representative Max "Children Are Like Maggots" Tyler (D-Golden) is seen standing amongst the Occupy Denver squatters before it was shut down by the Colorado State Patrol and Denver Police Department.

The photo's time stamp shows that it was taken at 11:38 PM, over half an hour after Governor Hickenlooper clearly stated that squatters were no longer legally allowed to be in the park. If the Governor cannot even get state legislators from his own party to respect his commands, what kind of influence does he have?

After back-to-back executive brow-beatings by state Senator Greg Brophy (R-Wray) to enforce the law and shut down the squatter camp, Governor Hickenlooper eventually caved and ordered riot police to shut it down last night. While Hickenlooper had demanded the protesters leave at 11 pm in a morning press conference with Denver Mayor Michael Hancock and Attorney General John Suthers, the police did not descend on the camp until 3:15 AM.

At that time, the officers tore down the squatter's tents, confiscated their property and arrested 24 people. While the protesters were being torn from their campsite, Governor Hickenlooper, who ordered the raid, was nowhere to be seen.

But other Democrat politicians were more than glad to join the squatters in solidarity.

What began with Representative Wes McKinley (D-Walsh) pitching his TeePee alongside the Occupy Denver squatters, was followed by Representative Ed Casso (D-Commerce City) proclaiming that the squatters were his "personal guests" and could stay as long as they want.

The site of Max Tyler openly disregarding Hickenlooper's demand marks a high point in hostilities between Hickenlooper and his left wing base.

The whole incident has thoroughly damaged Governor Hickenlooper's political position, with liberals furious at his using riot police to shut down their squatter camp, and conservatives disappointed in his inability to enforce the law until badgered into doing so.

His stock has fallen so quickly that even state legislators feel no threat in openly flouting his leadership.

Either The Denver Post’s time stamp is wrong or Max Tyler has some explaining to do.

Caving to the pressure brought about by Senator Brophy and conservative talk radio, Governor Hickenlooper finally enforced the law and evicted the squatters at the Occupy Denver camp last night. After debating himself in the media for three days about whether he could actually doing anything about the growing camp of miscreants and bored college kids, Governor Hickenlooper decided that the rule of law was worth something after all.

Despite telling protesters they had to leave by 11 pm, the Colorado State Patrol and the Denver Police Department didn't begin rolling into the squatter camp until 3:15 am. In a display of professionalism and restraint the riot police slowly worked their way through the trustafarian tent city, dismantling tents and removing the "smelly hippie" infestation that had grown to over 60 tents and nearly 1000 people by late Thursday evening.

As Kyle Clark of 9News noted on Twitter last night, the DPD got $50 million in grants for hosting Obama's Democrat National Convention in 2008, including over $1 million in riot gear. The still shiny new gear was on full display last night as seemingly endless lines of riot police blanketed Veteran's Park, bringing the rule of law down on the "Denver occupiers."

In finally caving to the call began by Senator Brophy on these pages to enforce the law and "boot" the squatters, the Governor had found himself a few new enemies, including the dangerous hacker group Anonymous who played a role in covering and spreading word of the shut down around the world.

Anonymous is a collective of "hacktivists" who have been responsible for taking down websites as supposedly secure as the Defense Department and major Fortune 500 corporations. The Governor might want to hope he doesn't have any skeletons in any online closets.

The park where the squatters had taken over was still closed this morning per Executive Order, and police were keeping protesters from restarting their occupation.

Yesterday was the worst day of Governor Hickenlooper's tenure, abruptly ending his nearly nine month honeymoon. Once seemingly unable to attract public criticism, protesters had more than a few unkind words for the state's CEO.

It was a striking scene. Barely three years after the coronation of Barack Obama in Denver, the Mile High City became the site of the first forced mass eviction of Occupy squatters. Many in the crowd who only 36 months ago were chanting "Yes, We Can" had changed their tune to "No, You Can't" — a stark reversal in the face of a flagging economy and little leadership from the White House.

Here in Colorado, Governor Hickenlooper is undoubtedly worse for the wear after this incident. Conservatives are now starting to see him as a pandering squishbag, incapable of enforcing the rule of law on his own side of the political aisle without being badgered into it. Liberals now think he hates free speech and is willing to bring riot police to break up their peaceful protesters.

Sticking in the squishbag middle, Hickenlooper ended up pleasing none of the people, none of the time.

A recent article by Debra Saunders on Real Clear Politics pointed out an interesting fact. In President Obama's campaign to pass his now defunct American "Jobs" Act there was something that was noticeably absent from his rhetoric: green jobs. Once the favorite hobby horse of the Left when pretending to craft job creating legislation, it's now nowhere to be seen after the spectacular collapse of Obama's big donor solar company Solyndra.

As Saunders notes, that's probably a good thing. You don't want to remind people that one of your biggest donor's companies received potentially illegally structured loans and lost a half BILLION dollars of taxpayer money in their green scheme.

But the silence on Solyndra-like deals helping boost employment is particularly noticeable here in Colorado where former Governor Bill Ritter made green "jobs" the defining theme of his failed, one-term administration. The New Energy Economy talking points were replayed ad nauseum by any Democrat with a microphone or press release. Suddenly that political propaganda has ceased to exist.

The silence may also have something to do with government reports highlighting how unbelievably bad green subsidies are for job creation. From Saunders' article:

Obama's 2009 $787 billion stimulus package included $500 million for training programs that were supposed to create new green jobs for thousands of middle-class Americans. Last month, however, the Department of Labor's inspector general conducted an audit that found that as of June 30 — with one-third of the funds spent and more than 50,000 participants — only 10 percent of trainees were placed in jobs. And only 1,336 participants, or 2 percent, had held jobs for six months or longer. [Peak emphasis]

The audit reported that grant recipients "expressed concerns that green jobs had not materialized and job placements into subsidized employment had been much less than expected." The inspector general recommended that the Labor Department cut its losses and run — in Washington-speak. The audit advised that the department reassess grants and "obtain an estimate of funds each grantee will realistically spend given the current demand for green job-related skills" so that whatever is left of the remaining $327 million can be put to better use.

Michael Sandoval of Peoples Press Collective reported on a Colorado Department of Labor study on green "jobs" back in August, where he noted the report said that most green jobs in Colorado actually "predate the green economy." Virtually all of the jobs that do exist had nothing to do with Ritter's policies. Though, don't worry, Ritter is employed by the "green economy" at CSU. Pat Stryker always has a check ready for her favorite stooge.

After a Democrat Party-wide effort to pimp green energy government subsidies for their solar company CEO donors and enviro wacko base, the whole campaign is blowing up in their face.

What once appeared to a good chunk of the American people as a reasonable investment in renewable energy, is beginning to show itself for what many conservatives warned it would be from the get-go: a clusterf%^& nightmare of putting the American taxpayer on the hook for companies that couldn't stand on their own.

OUR VIEW: If John Hickenlooper is believing his press clips, he may have started measuring the drapes in the White House. But this salvo from a powerful liberal group is a small reminder that he’ll never get a chance to hang those drapes if his liberal base hates him…or if he becomes seen as a pandering wimp.

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No Love From The Left

John Hickenlooper has had his worst day as Governor.

Beset by criticism that he has been indecisive in corralling the miscreants who call themselves Occupy Denver, now Governor John Hickenlooper is drawing heavy fire from the Left over another issue…his stubborn refusal to take a position on Proposition 103.

A reader forwarded an email just sent from Great Ed Colorado, one of the groups pushing for the $3 Billion tax increase known as Prop 103, calling on Governor Hickenlooper and state legislators to get out of their governance hidey holes and take a position on 103.

After legislative Republicans sent a letter to Hickenlooper and Democrat leadership in the state House and Senate calling on them to oppose Prop 103, Great Ed has now followed up with their own letter…and petition…asking legislators and Chickenlooper to pick a side.

Per the email:

That's why we're asking you to sign our letter to all 100 legislators and the governor, asking them to help us pass Proposition 103 — even if it means changing their position.

Their leadership would be instrumental in helping voters understand what's at stake for our children, communities and economy.

Please sign the letter, and pass it along to other public education supporters. Not only will that add to the impact of the letter, it will also spread the word about the importance of Proposition 103.

Here at the Peak we've been calling on the Guv to take a position for months. It appears that frustration with Hickenlooper's lack of leadership has now caused enough consternation among the tax hike set that even they are willing to go on the warpath to get a position out of Hick.

Liberal activists as far back as August were getting sick of the tax hike timidness among legislators, causing one to blast out an email asking Dem legislators to sign on in support of the job-killing measure.

The email and letter from Great Ed Colorado represents a heightening of hostilities. The stakes have been raised for Hick. Now it's his own side of the aisle going after him.

If Hickenlooper shuts down the Denver squatter camp tonight at 11 pm, as he hinted he would in a press conference this morning, will he have enough political capital left to continue ignoring the clamoring on the Left for him to take a position on Prop 103?

Speaking of political capital, if John Hickenlooper is believing his press clips, he may have started measuring the drapes in the White House. But this salvo from a powerful liberal group is a small reminder that he’ll never get a chance to hang those drapes if his liberal base hates him…or if he becomes seen as a pandering wimp.

Senator Bill Cadman (R-CO Springs) was elected Minority Leader of the state Senate GOP caucus today. As the Peak was first to report on Tuesday, Cadman was the frontrunner for the position and our sources told us he was likely to lock up the race in the coming days. Today's election confirmed our reports.

The speculation by our sources that Senator Ted Harvey (R-Highlands Ranch) would mount a campaign turned out to be just that, speculation, as the Douglas County stalwart quickly fell in line behind Cadman.

Senator Mark Scheffel (R-Parker) moved up the ranks from the number three position as Caucus Chair to become Assistant Minority Leader. Senator Scott Renfroe (R-Greeley) was elected to Republican Caucus Chairman and Senator Kevin Grantham (R-Canon City) is now Senate Minority Whip.

Our sources note that this is one of the first drama-free leadership elections in the GOP in a while, a positive sign heading into what is likely to be a hyper-partisan and bruising legislative session come January.

With the united front in the GOP Senate caucus, we expect Brandon Shaffer will have little to no chance to peel away GOP votes for his bills — so expect a lot of Shaffer floor speeches denouncing the GOP while ironically pushing his campaign message of bipartisanship solutions.

Governor Hickenlooper's increasingly common propensity to dawdle, delay and generally avoid taking any position or make any decision that doesn't poll over 60% has now become readily apparent to the wider world with his refusal to enforce basic public safety laws over the Occupy Denver squatter camp. While the squatters hold the public park hostage, stinking up the joint and refusing to leave at night, Hickenlooper has been confronted with a clear choice: anger his liberal base or enforce the law.

For such a non-politician pol, the choice should be easy. Enforce the law. He hasn't. Dawdling has been his leadership M.O. The Governor went on Mike Rosen's show on 850 KOA two days ago and stuttered and stammered illegitimate excuses for why he wasn't able to enforce the law on protesters from his side of the political aisle.

“All of Colorado is watching and the Governor has already set a dangerous precedent by allowing this to happen.

He cannot avoid his duty and responsibility to enforce the law. The First Amendment guarantees the right to free speech, not the right to trespass. He needs to take action immediately and end this circus before matters get worse.”

With Hick lacking the guts to take a position on the proposed $3 Billion tax increase known as Prop 103, angering his liberal base in not doing so, Hick may be afraid to incur any more anger from his left flank. Does anyone doubt he would have shut down the squatter camp long ago if it had been pro-Life protesters?

Now with Rep. Wes McKinley (D-Walsh) trying to relive the 60s in his TeePee alongside the squatters, Hick has an even more uphill political battle to confront. Now he has to chuck out not only "smelly hippies" but a "smelly legislator" as well.

Does Hick have the guts to do his duty as Governor?

We'll find out later this morning when he holds a press conference with Mayor Hancock and Attorney General Suthers.

If he does the right thing, Brophy’s back-to-back executive brow beatings will be the reason why.

An astute reader pointed out something interesting about Steve Hogan's attack ad targeted at Ryan Frazier…it's darn near identical to the attack ads run by Perlmutter against Frazier in their congressional match-up last year. Heck, the ad even cites the liberal online rag The Huffington Post for one of their attacks on Frazier. At this point, why not take it all the way and do a testimonial interview with Pat Stryker too?

All of which got us thinking…

About a month ago Perlmutter endorsed Hogan, weirdly choosing a Republican over other Democrats that are now in the race. Of course Perlmutter wouldn't shimmy in the direction of Frazier, but why would he choose Hogan over, for example, “Defector Debbie” Stafford?

That left wing endorsement of Hogan set off a tit-for-tat, with Republican Congressman Mike Coffman jumping to Frazier's defense.

Still Perlmutter's endorsement of Hogan sent conservative Aurorans, who might have otherwise given Hogan a closer look, scratching their heads.

Now as the race closes to an end, those same conservatives have one more morsel to mull over…Steve Hogan is running for Mayor on Ed Perlmutter's campaign themes.

We referenced it in our earlier post, but proof of the similarity of Hogan and the Democrats messaging has got us wondering out loud again… why would a Republican pick Perlmutter's pal Hogan over Frazier or Jude Sandvall?

And since we are asking questions, how about one more…is Ed Perlmutter running Steve Hogan's campaign?

The Aurora mayoral race, one of the few marquee races of 2011, has become an absolute dog fight when it comes to fundraising. Yesterday, former City Councilman Steve Hogan's campaign announced it has raised $204,418 to date, while the Peak is the first to report that Frazier's campaign has raised $231,141. These two hefty hauls are a sign that this race has become a two-man fight, with both campaigns flush with enough cash to take the fight to TV.

Frazier's campaign raised over $100,000 in this last reporting period to Hogan's $50,305 in the same period, giving Frazier's camp the clear campaign cash momentum. Frazier also has significantly more cash on hand — $62,319 to Hogan's $38,533. Regardless, both camps will have the necessary resources to get their message out to voters.

As the contribution limit is $25,000 the race could also see some last minute infusions of big donor dollars, though neither campaign has been able to extract a donation that size yet.

Frazier's campaign has promised a no-negative ad strategy, leaving them vulnerable to Hogan's attack on his council attendance record and role in a company that Hogan's ad says sent jobs overseas. Based on the only publicly available polling, a survey done by Magellan Strategies and paid for by Frazier's campaign, Frazier has some breathing room to incur attacks, leading 27-14 in the poll released August 3rd.

If there was any doubt that Hogan had crawled into the political sack with Aurora’s Democrat establishment, note the attacks on Frazier “outsourcing jobs”…the same silly sound bites used by Ed Perlmutter against Frazier last fall. No surprise from a candidate in Steve Hogan who has given Perlmutter a full embrace on the campaign trail in recent weeks.

Republicans in Aurora have two solid choices in Jude Sandvall and Ryan Frazier. After Hogan’s embrace of Perlmutter, and his George Soros-like attacks, we aren’t sure many Republicans will be that enamored with Hogan any longer.

With both campaigns' coffers filled and TV ads starting to fly, this race is kicking into high gear. Aurora voters go to the polls on November 1.

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To find out what the other candidates raised, you can check out the Aurora clerk's website later this afternoon by clicking here.